BIRDS OF THE CAMBRIDGE REGION. 



329' 



substance in this connection. In shape and general plan of construction the 

 nest closely resembles that of a Baltimore Oriole. It has no hole in the side 

 but instead a wide-mouthed opening at the top through which the bird entered 

 it as the Oriole enters her nest. The upper edges and sides were securely fas- 

 tened to the fine terminal twigs of a drooping branch where the nest hung sus- 

 pended among the evergreen foliage of the hemlock, precisely as the Oriole's 

 hammock swings in the drooping spray of an elm. The Warbler's nest has a 

 scanty lining of pine needles and fine grasses but it is otherwise composed 

 entirely of Usnea, loosely woven or perhaps merely felted together, evidently by 

 the parent birds. They must have been at some pains to collect this material, 

 for the closest scrutiny on the part of a friend and myself failed to reveal more 

 than a few small and scattered tufts of Usnea in the surrounding woods. Its 

 scarcity in this locality explains, no doubt, why it had been used so compara- 

 tively sparingly and in such an exceptional way. The custom almost invariably 

 followed by Warblers of this species is, of course, to select a large, pendant clus- 

 ter of Usnea and, after making a small entrance hole in one side, to merely 

 hollow out the interior for the reception of their eggs. Thus they save them- 

 selves most of the labor which the owners of this nest were obliged to perform. 



20I. Dendroica tigrina (Gmel.). 

 Cape May Warbler. 



Rare transient visitor. 



seasonal occurrence. 



May 10, 1897, one male seen, Lower Mystic Pond, W. Faxon. 



May 15 — 25. 

 May 25, 1871, one female taken, Cambridge, R. Deane. 



August 25, 1884, one im. male' taken, near Mount Auburn, W. Brewster. 



Partly because of its comparative rarity but also, no doubt, on account of 

 the striking beauty of the male when attired in his full nuptial plumage, the Cape 

 May Warbler possesses unusual interest and value in the estimation of our local 

 observers and collectors. In view of this fact it may be worth while to give 

 with some detail all the instances which my notes supply of the bird's occurrence 

 in the Cambridge Region. They are as follows : — 



'No. 9481, collection of William Brewster. 



